Gardeners' Notes:

The more recently discovered variant, currently provincially called Aloe aff. elegans has exaggerated margin teeth, is spotless and has pronounced accented red margins and teeth. Its flower, while similar, is more sparcely distributed and has a shorter raceme. There are minor race variances, until it has been described (if it merits description) it has been assigned under elegans. I will post it here. There is one with and one without flower posted here and in the individual image description I've noted it as Aloe aff. elegans.

silvery-blue smooth upright aloe from Northeast Africa. Very rarely, if ever, suckers. Stemless plants with upright habit. Leaves are dull grey-green to reddish (in stress) and have small reddish-brown teeth. Flowers a striking orange/yellow or red color on branched racemes (2-4 branches) . Ethiopian native where it is very common on open slopes at moderately high elevations (up to 7000 feet).

No damage to my plant at 27F for hours, while aloes all around it either melted or showed some leaf damage... nice hardy species!